An Agile Death
by blueeyedchibi
Summary: Being chained together was ineviatable. Their feelings for each other, however, were not. A collection of LightxL drabbles.
1. Chapter I

_An Agile Death_

Please R&R.

**S o a r **

-

"Why is your heart beating so fast?"

L blinked, seemingly brought forth from his concentrated stupor. He flinched, too, at the initial ring of Yagami Light's voice, as if just realizing his close proximity to the younger teen. The detective pulled away so that their shoulders were no longer touching.

_There is an eighty-seven per cent chance that it is because I'm sitting next to _you_, Light-kun. _

After a moment in which L had neglected to give an answer, Light sighed wearily and peered at the other male out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe it's all the sugar you eat," he suggested, bored of the silence that engulfed them.

And while Light was content on pretending that nothing had ever happened, L was decidedly a little more rattled about having almost allowed his suspect's lips to touch his own.

The detective had been struggling to reach a new package of icing sugar from the impossibly high shelves in the kitchen, standing as tall as his abused spine would allow with one hand supporting his weight on the counter top and the other one inching around in the cupboard. In other words, it was a lost cause.

At first, L had refused his offer to help, so Light watched him patiently with glimmering mahogany spheres and a smirk on his lips. Perhaps when Ryuuzaki was younger and less _haunch-backed_, he was able to reach. The teen laughed as L faltered, and swiftly ascended and nabbed the bag of white powder that was so desperately desired.

L brought his thumb to his lip slowly, considering the younger male. Then he snatched.

"Hey, hey," Light reprimanded him, lifting the icing sugar so that it was just out of reach. "It's only polite to thank me."

"That is true, Light-kun," he agreed tonelessly. "I will thank you when you give it to me."

Light snorted and flipped the package onto its backside and began reading aloud the fat and calorie contents. Raising a bemused brow, he lifted his gaze to lock with L's. "This stuff can't be very good for you, Ryuuzaki, especially not the way you abuse it."

He received a slightly repulsive mental image of a piece of strawberry cheesecake covered in the powdered sugar; one that he had seen far too often.

L apparently did not care, as was obvious when he pounced, quick as lightening. He grabbed for the bag with his body flush against Light's chest, and from that point on, everything happened in slow motion.

Light had the good intentions of taking back what he had earned (it was for the benefit of Ryuuzaki's health, he told himself), when suddenly he found his forehead touching the detective's and his nose brushing his.

They stared at each other in a shocked silence, neither reacting. And before he knew what was happening, L's eyes fluttered closed on their own accord and Light tilted his head to the side so that he could accumulate better access…

And then L pulled away, stalking off with his prize in his clutches, dragging a smiling Light behind him by the chain on his wrist. Light studied him from behind, and although L appeared calm and collected as always, on the inside he was a trembling mess.

"_Why is your heart beating so fast?"_

They sat side-by-side, as ritual, and resumed their work on the Kira case, while Matsuda spilt his coffee in his lap in the background.


	2. Chapter II

_An Agile Death_

ancient-relic, IshizuWolfRider, Holding On To Heart, DarkDannyHot, Makayla, and Lady Ryuji; _loves of my life_.

Please R&R.

**V i g i l a n c e**

-

L thought it was the most useless thing he could think of to waste his time with. But it wasn't as if he could help it, and even if he could, Yagami Light was making the feat impossible as his hand continued to hit the detective in the back of the head ad he flailed about on the bed in his slumber.

L, who was seated in his usual position on the floor next to said bed with his laptop open in front of him, found it increasingly difficult to accomplish any work when being frequently harassed by a sleeping teenager. He sighed and got to his feet, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets as he leered down at the other male.

Light had been unwell since that morning, as it was painfully obvious. He had sniffled annoyingly throughout the debriefing L had given the team, and sneezed loudly, rattling the chain between them and breaking L's line of thought while he tried to read. Now he was sure that the boy had conducted a fever, though the raven had yet to decide if he would do anything about that or not.

No, L was not particularly practiced in bringing down fevers that sent people into thrashing fits in the middle of the night, but what was more frustrating still was the fact that he _felt_ something for him that was not a blazing determination to finally send him to his death. Light never left his thoughts, and as L had already concluded, thinking of someone insignificant and stressing about them daily was a complete waste of his time.

Not that Light was insignificant; rather he was a large part of the investigation. Number one Kira suspect, yes, but there was no way around the reality in which he was truly fascinated with Yagami _himself_, and not Kira. Light was captivating and alluring to speak with and to look at, and had no problem luring L into a conversation on a whole other level of intelligence.

He supposed he would wait the fever out and wait for it to break. And in the meantime, convince himself that whatever he was feeling was unimportant and far too mortal for his own liking. He went as far as to tell himself that he would not care if Light really _was_ Kira, and rehearsed for when the time came, his lines being: _"I am not surprised. Did you think you could fool me, Light-kun?"_

He was right to suspect Light, even though he did have feelings for him. He desperately did not want to loose his only friend to Kira. But that was selfish, was it not? It was all for justice, either way.

The mattress dipped under L's weight as he sat next to the writhing body. The marble eyed detective reached out with ginger fingers and gently brushed aside auburn hair from Light's sweaty forehead.

"Are you a killer, Light-kun?" He mused softly to the darkness of the bedroom.

As if it would hardly make a difference, anyways.


	3. Chapter III

_An Agile Death_

IshizuWolfRider, Sirius Lee Brilliant, Makayla, Anime-lobster, Holding On To Heart, and acient-relic; _what the heck would I do without you?_

Please R&R.

**G a l a x y**

**- **

L finally stumbled out of his grand chair situated in front of his whirring computer screen, and Yagami Light followed after him without complaint, gazing at the crooked back in concern as the older male unlocked and thrust open the shatter-proof glass doors and lead him onto the building's balcony.

The cool night air assaulted the bare skin of Light's face and neck, but he reveled in the caress as L rested his elbows on the railing and raked his fingernails through his unruly hair, possibly the most expressive action that Light had ever witnessed coming from the detective. He even swore he saw L give a mute, frustrated sigh, but that may have been pushing it.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light asked hesitantly, now completely facing his companion. "Is everything… alright?"

The query made Light feel out of place and awkward, unsure of how to deal with his growing concern. L had never before dared to show so much emotion, and the stress that was radiating from the hunched form was so apparent that Light wondered if L would die of a heart attack, not from Kira himself, but from the strain of the case.

When he got no reply, Light opened his mouth again without thinking. "I think you should take a break," he advised quietly, still feeling rattled. Was L okay?

He immediately bit his tongue as thoughts zipped through his mind. _Isn't that what he's doing right now; taking a break? _He reprimanded himself for his idiocy. _Will he be defensive now that I've drawn attention to it? Will I have annoyed him for pointing out the obvious? Will he feel pressured to get back to work?_

For such an intelligent young man, it was amazing how the insomniac could make him trip over his own thoughts and become suddenly fluent in the language of 'Stupid.' However, L did not strike back, only responding in a dead-beat tone, "I am perfectly fine, Light-kun."

"You're drained." Light ignored him.

L deliberated for a moment. "You are correct in assuming that," he admitted wearily.

Silence passed between the two, during which Light observed L intently, who in turn was still staring off into the starry atmosphere. It was approximately two-thirty in the morning, and as a jet plane soared above their heads, Light wondered if L simply wanted him to shut up.

"Your work means a lot to you," Light pressed, disregarding his instinct to leave the other alone.

"…Yes."

"Hey, Ryuuzaki," Light began companionably, taking note that his gaze was still being denied. "Do you figure it's my turn to ask you a question, seeing as it's _me_ who is always being investigated?"

It was still a rather one-sided conversation.

"I suppose that is fair," he answered, and Light could tell that he was slightly wary. But it was not the university student's intention to get too personal and cause the detective to clam up; no, he just wanted to dig a little deeper.

"How much does this case mean to you?"

Without missing a beat, L looked at him for the first time. Light found himself enthralled by the sunken eyes that considered him. "Look up at the sky," he directed sullenly.

The corners of Light's lips tugged down into a frown. "Was that an attempt at changing the subject?" He inquired skeptically, to which L shook his head. "Just look," he urged.

Light rolled his eyes discretely but did as he was told. "What am I doing?" He asked in long-suffering tones.

L smirked. "I would think that to be obvious."

Light snorted.

"Now count the stars."

Mahogany spheres flickered back to his rival's bemused ones. "But that's impossible…"

"So is explaining my dedication."


	4. Chapter IV

_An Agile Death_

**V o i d **

-

Yagami Light studied the legend before him. The gentle curve of his profile, his bleakly illuminated skin, his pale lips that dragged downwards at the end in concentration. The ebony haired male stared fixedly at the frozen computer screen before him, unblinking, bearing wide eyes that seemed to be spheres simply full with black ink.

He choked back a sigh as he waited impatiently. L more likely than not had found something that had remotely caught his attention, but Light found this irrelevant. The dimly lit room was desolate besides the two, therefore addressing the current instance as the opportune moment to spark a conversation.

But Light would not make the first move. How many times had he done that recently but to no prevail? L, Ryuuzaki, Ryuga, or _whoever _the hell he was, had only proved to have the emotional span of one of his own sugary lollipops.

So the younger teen opted to tap a tune upon the clanging chain that conveniently bound the two together, and smirked as he observed the swaying attachment pull at the detective's thin wrist, sliding it off the mouse.

There was a lapse in time, and for a moment, Light thought he would stand corrected, that L really _did_ have no emotions such as annoyance. But his chance did not fail to present itself.

"Is there something on your mind, Light-kun?" He asked in a flat, almost obligatory tone.

Finally, L had spoken. And though he tired of hearing that same voice accuse him of being a mass murderer more than twenty-six per cent of the time, he would have gladly had it whispering into his ear upon close contact and an entirely different circumstance.

"Yeah…" His response was an attempt at sounding thoughtful, as though Light was only realizing there was something amiss when the detective mentioned it. He swiftly hid his impish smile and adopted a slightly concerned look. With brows knitted together, he continued, "I feel different inside."

He was a wonderful actor. But it was for a just cause – his boredom.

"Different how?" L did not spare him a glance.

Light shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like something's missing, you know?"

The older male tilted his head to regard him with curiosity. "I know how that feels," he said with a hint of enthusiasm, surprising Light. He had began to think a reaction was too much to ask for.

"You _do_?" Light intoned incredulously.

L hummed, and pressed his thumb to his lips. "Once, I ate a whole bag of marshmallows, and I still felt empty."

Yagami Light face-faulted, slapping a palm to his forehead. Perhaps the emotional range of a lollipop was giving him too much credit?


	5. Chapter V

_An Agile Death_

**S e n t i m e n t**

-

L's frail body shook with harsh tremors – either from the cold or from the adrenaline, Yagami Light could not fathom. Maybe it was because he had simply lost a good deal of blood.

"I can't – I couldn't do it," he whispered; even his voice quaked.

Light, who was occupied supporting the detective, only hissed. "You idiot, what the hell were you thinking?"

"I am a coward."

"No, you're not," the teen objected fiercely, pulling L away from him while maintaining a tight grip on his shoulders. He forced eye contact with onyx spheres before continuing. "You're not a coward for choosing to _live_. You would be a coward for doing it, Ryuuzaki."

L looked surprised. He couldn't tell if Light sighed now in relief or exasperation as his mahogany eyes fluttered closed momentarily, but he eventually elaborated. "If you took your life, you would be giving up. It's just another way of hiding from your problems."

"I'm sorry," he muttered pathetically when Light held him to his chest once more. His spidery fingers clenched the fabric of the teen's shirt, as if just realizing his sudden fatigue. "I think I should sit down, Light-kun…"

After easing the detective into a chair, Light dropped down on one knee and took L's arms in his hands, flipping them over to gaze at their morbid display. "You realize I'm going to be watching you like a hawk, now, don't you?" He grumbled flatly, more to himself than anyone else. "I guess we'll need to dress these."

L was quiet, silenced as though he were a child ashamed and under punishment. He watched Light stand and leave the room with dead eyes, and did not protest when he returned and wiped the crimson from his pale skin with a warm cloth.

His suspect bit his lip, contemplating the white sweater sleeve that had again unrolled itself from its place at L's elbow.

"Can you take your shirt off?" He inquired finally.

At first, it appeared as if L was going to refuse, but he took the hem of his top and slowly pulled it upwards so that his thin chest was revealed, wincing involuntarily as the fabric brushed against his raw skin and his fresh cuts.

Light sighed again. "Here, I'll help you."

Prior to gently pulling the garment over the untidy head, Light's fingers accidentally brushed against the raven's cold torso, and quickly apologized. L said nothing, either indicating that he had not noticed or did not care.

And as Light snuggly wrapped the older male's wrists in the medical cloth he had found stored in the bathroom, he thought, _"Who would catch Kira if you decided to quit before the game ended?" _


	6. Chapter VI

An Agile Death

_An Agile Death_

**I r k**

-

Yagami Light clasped a hand to his aching head, glaring deftly at L. Nothing was worth the splitting migraine he received every time Misa ventured into his presence. He could have been spared, too, if it wasn't for the detective who rudely decided to answer his cellular phone on his account.

Holding the device delicately up to his ear with only his thumb and pointer, L chewed on his bottom lip as he was addressed by the blonde girl and listened to her spiel obediently as Light could only stare at Ryuuzaki's back in bland horror.

It had taken her just _seconds_ to arrive, almost as though she had been waiting just outside the door for permission to enter. Light would have submitted himself to Kira-questioning for an hour with L rather than having to spend five minutes with the girl. Instead of picturing this scenario, however, he strangely ended up with an intimate image of…

_Stop. Just stop it_, he directed himself firmly.

Misa threw herself into his unwilling arms, giggling and demanding, "Say you love me!" L stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets, contemplating the scene with undisguised interest. "Say you love me," she exclaimed once again, much to Light's aggravation.

"You love me…?" Light repeated, easily side-stepping the request and simply echoing back to her like a parrot. He smiled darkly over her head.

Misa pulled back, puzzled. "Huh? But-"

Light shrugged innocently. "I said it."

While Misa continued to look befuddled, L seated himself on one end of the couch, causing the chain between the two males to become taunt. When Light felt the slight tug, he followed behind loyally, more than willing to sit next to the raven haired detective. Instead his plans were foiled as Misa bounded forth and placed herself in the center of her hosts, causing the boys to have to stretch their arms out behind her back to keep from reaching their bind's limit.

"May I hold your hand, Light-kun?" The model inquired sweetly, her voice sugar coated.

The teen in question simply rolled his eyes. "No, thanks, it isn't heavy."

Behind her back he laced his fingers with L's.


End file.
